The present invention relates generally to a musical instrument, and more particularly, pertains to a wind instrument tuning system that stabilizes a jointed instrument when the segments of the instrument are pulled out or pushed in to adjust pitch.
Musical instrument tuning is the practice of adjusting the pitch of the tones of an instrument so that proper intervals are established between the tones. Tuning an instrument is typically established against a fixed reference, e.g., Concert A=440 Hz. When an instrument is out of tune, the musical instrument does not match the fixed reference. A pitch or tone that is too high is referred to as “sharp” and a pitch or tone that is too low is referred to as “flat.” Instruments can become “out of tune” if they are damaged or worn over time, and must be adjusted or repaired to bring them “in tune.” Instruments may also become “out of tune” due to changes in temperature or humidity.
A resonator is a device that oscillates at some frequencies with greater amplitude than others. Resonators are used to generate sounds in a musical instrument, e.g., strings of a guitar, or may be used to modify the sound in a musical instrument, e.g., sound box of a guitar. For wind instruments and brass instruments, an acoustic cavity resonator produces sound via air vibration within a cavity or resonator, which is typically a tube.
One way of manually tuning a woodwind instrument, brass instrument, or similar instrument is to modify the length or width of the instrument's resonator. For example, if a clarinet is playing sharp, a musician will pull out the upper section from the barrel slightly until the clarinet is in tune. Alternatively, the musician can pull out the lower joint from the upper joint, or pull out the bell from the lower joint. If a clarinet is playing flat, the musician will push in the upper section to the barrel (if the barrel is not already fully inserted), or push in other sections of the clarinet, until the clarinet is in tune. If the sections of the clarinet are fully inserted and the instrument is still out of tune, then the musician must improvise by changing his or her embouchure or replacing the barrel with different length sections.
The process of pulling apart or pushing together the mating sections of the instrument takes a toll on the functioning of the instrument. First, the seal between the sections, often times cork seals, get worn over time and must be replaced. Any wear on the cork seal may cause the air tight seal to become permeable, affecting the sound of the instrument. Second, when the mating sections of the instrument are pulled apart, the opposing shoulders of the instrument, which are typically flush when the instrument is fully assembled, are not flush against one another. This results in the joint between the sections being loose and unstable. There is also the potential loss of an air tight seal between the sections. Similarly, this adversely affects the sound of the instrument.
The present invention seeks to improve upon the prior art by providing a novel apparatus which prevents unwanted movement of a jointed instrument when the instrument is in an extended or pulled out state, and helps maintain an air tight seal between mating sections.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to accommodate inward and outward movement of mating sections of an instrument relative to each other while sealing the interface between the mating sections and preventing relative motion (“wobble”) between the sections.
It is an additional object of the present invention to enable a musician to pre-tune the instrument to match known pitches of different sources.